Talk:Whistling

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[edit] Various (with some additional comments in February 2008)

Just from personal observation it seems whistling is contageous in a similar way that yawing is. As in if you whistle in a public place you are more likely to hear others chirp in! Try it out.

Yes, that's very obvious if you're a public whistler (in Sweden), and worth mentioning. Also, it seems to be a male thing. JöG 14:27, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

i have heard people using two fingers for whistiling, and it is Very loud. would be nice to have some picture or info on HOW TO

There is more than one way to do two-fingered whistling as well as several non-fingered methods for producing loud whistling. Is Wikipedia the appropriate location for such information? I have whistling lessons I know on my own website since I am considered an expert on whistling but it is not appropriate to list the link on Wikipedia since it would be considered self-promotion. Lhamilton1 (talk) 03:57, 5 February 2008 (UTC) lhamilton1
wikiHow and eHow are two sites better suited to How-to although I'm not sure you can list your websites there either. Flowanda | Talk 16:57, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
I think technical explanations of how various ways of whistling work are definitely on topic here. Rp (talk) 19:57, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
That is not the purpose of Wikipedia - Wikipedia is not a how-to site. Unless there is a non-instructional purpose to such content, it is much better suited for another site, as explained. --Cheeser1 (talk) 20:14, 19 February 2008 (UTC)


Linking to yahoo groups or other forums or product pages is what flags either COI or a bot; I had added your main site as an external link, but you removed it. I think northernnightingale.com passes WP:EL as an expert site, but even adding links should adhere to WP:BLP (i.e. being sensitive to the requests of people included in articles), so I won't add it back in if you object. Flowanda | Talk 22:49, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

My main page isn't really a Wikipedia type thing -- it's just a site homepage with little Wikipedia-type interest other than the links at the bottom of the page. I'd rather put a link to the Other Whistling Sites page that I maintain (and possibly to the Whistling Lessons page near the How to Whistle Loudly link). Lhamilton1 (talk) 18:25, 8 February 2008 (UTC) lhamilton1
I know -- I can link to northernnightingale.com and just mention the whistling lessons and links to other sites in the link. That would do it. Lhamilton1 (talk) 20:41, 14 February 2008 (UTC)lhamilton1

I can produce two tones simultaneously when I whistle using the second method. Any idea why? I just picked it up from my dad, and he did from his...

This type of whistling is called duotone whistling. Many whistlers find it very difficult to do. It can be done quite beautifully. Some whistlers can even do duets with themselves by whistling two different tones at the same time. Lhamilton1 (talk) 03:57, 5 February 2008 (UTC)lhamilton1
I just added a remark about this (before I read this talk page!) since it isn't technically difficult as far as I'm aware. Rp (talk) 19:57, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
Although duotone whistling is done by many whistlers, it is not common to hear it done musically. Still less common is to hear complex duotone in which a whistler does different things with the rhythm and notes of both parts of the two tones at the same time. Many whistlers do not easily learn to do duotone.Lhamilton1 —Preceding comment was added at 01:37, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

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Some cultures find whistling to be offensive, and not just in an annoying way, but that the act itself is a summoner of evil/misfortune. I whistled in my Taekwondo class the other night and the master told me not to, it's a tradition of some sorts. A greek classmate says that in Greece, whistling at night would summon EVIL which is why it shouldn't be done.

Was hoping this article would say more.

There are a number of cultures that have negative associations related to whistling. I recently read an article that mentioned a Turkish superstition that whistling in a house was essentially an invitation to the devil to come in. However, I don't have a formal source for the information. Lhamilton1 (talk) 02:31, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
Whistling is also traditionally considered bad luck aboard sailing vessels, as it is said to "call up the winds"—presumably not the desirable variety. --Ninly (talk) 16:31, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Darryl Hanna - Whistling

In Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 the song which is whistled is called Twisted Nerve from the movie of the same name (1968) and was writen by Benard Herrmann. The whistling, I believe, is part of the original soundtrack and not whistled by Darryl Hanna as the article implies. I have no source to back either claim, however. Can someone help out?

no sources here either, unfortunately, but I believe you to be correct Oreo man 22:34, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
An interview of Tarantino by Richard Roeper on 5 October in the Chicago Sun-Times claimed that Darryl Hanna whistled the theme. However, on listening to that section of the movie, it appears to me that although she certainly is whistling on her own at the start of the scene, a more accomplished whistler takes over -- possibly the original track from the Twisted Nerve Lhamilton1 (talk) 03:49, 5 February 2008 (UTC)lhamilton1

[edit] Split musical whistling

The musical whistling section is just a list and not a description of musical whistling itself; any objections to it being split off into an article like List of songs featuring whistling (which could then be put in Category:Lists of songs and Lists of songs#Technique) or something similar? Ziggurat 00:15, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Good idea. Nobody has objected so I've gone ahead and done the deed. CiaranG 13:41, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
So far I've identified 376 popular songs with whistling in them. The list keeps growing. Lhamilton1 (talk) 04:00, 5 February 2008 (UTC) lhamilton1

[edit] What are the sources for the assertions that whistling produces a single frequency with no harmonics?

This information is being copied to other wikipedia articles but I don't believe it is true. The same can be said about tuning forks. -Crunchy Numbers 20:25, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that struct me as very unlikely.

I don't think sine waves sound like that. JöG 14:22, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

It's almost true. Whistling typically has very low levels of upper harmonics. I changed the article's assertion a little but I can't find a reference to cite. My own knowledge comes from my work with installing and tuning sound systems and my habit of singing or whistling certain room mode notes into my spectrograph/RTA which shows strong harmonics in a sung note but very weak harmonics with a whistled note. Flutes also have relatively weak harmonics, which is to say that both steady-state flute notes and steady-state whistled notes are closer to pure sine tones than many other musical sounds. I'm sorry, but I won't be putting this information in the article as it would be at cross purposes with WP:OR. Binksternet 06:24, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Moved topic into here

I'e copied the article Whistling (theatre) in its entirety to this discussion. How should that article be deleted (if indeed it is a valid action)?

If I have done things against Wikipedia policy, my apologies, and could someone please point me to the corret procedure?

StephenBuxton 22:13, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

What you want to do is called a merge: see Wikipedia:Merging and moving pages. Ziggurat 22:16, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
I'll create a redirect. 131.111.8.98 14:47, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Whistling in the male sphere

As someone who has not contributed to this article before, I wanted to run this by the talk page first. My studies have frequently noted that in American and British society/culture up until the early 20th century, whistling was a male enterprise, so to speak: it was considered a masculine act and that women whistling was a violation of gender roles and an indication of "inversion" (homosexuality). I would like to make at least brief mention of this in the article (with reference(s)). Do others find this appropriate?Cheeser1 15:39, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Sounds interesting! Annaxt 18:35, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm from England and you rarely hear girls whistling. It's seen as masculine (wolf-whistle?), rude and a bit 'common'. Girls that do are usually less feminine than average.--Triedandtested 21:46, 5 May 2007 (UTC)